Digital cameras capture, process, and store digital images. These digital images can be transferred to other devices (e.g., by a network) for viewing, storage and printing. In many cases, digital images are captured of a particular person, and then “shared” with that person.
Digital cameras typically offer a variety of different camera settings or modes for different types of situations and subjects. For example, digital cameras can include automatic mode selection to select portrait mode, macro mode, sunset mode, etc. The image processing applied by the digital camera is then adjusted in accordance with the selected settings.
It is known to customize the image processing used in a digital camera based on the user of the digital camera. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,903,762 to Prabhu, et al., entitled “Customizing a digital camera for a plurality of users,” which incorporated herein by reference, discloses a user customization method for a digital camera wherein when the digital camera is powered on, the user selects their name from a list of users displayed on the image display. A processor in the digital camera then uses the appropriate stored settings to provide a customized feature set for the particular user of the digital camera. These settings can include image processing parameters, such as an image sharpness setting and a color balance setting. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 7,082,227, to Baum et al., entitled “Producing printed images having personalization features,” teaches an architecture for producing printed images according to personalized image adjustment preferences for a user.
Recently, digital cameras have been developed that automatically detect the presence of a face in an image and automatically set the digital camera to a mode suitable for capturing people, such as a portrait mode. It is also known to provide a digital camera that uses a face recognition algorithm to identify particular people in an image. Metadata is then stored in association with the captured digital image that identifies one or more people depicted in the captured digital image.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2007/0140532 to Goffin, entitled “Method and apparatus for providing user profiling based on facial recognition,” discloses the use of user profiles for digital imaging devices based on facial recognition. This patent application describes electronic devices that capture an image of the user of the device, and then use face recognition to determine the identity of the user. Various device parameters (such as the volume level) can then be automatically adjusted according to the preferences of the identified user. This approach can be used for a variety of different electronic devices such as personal computers, telephones, videophones, automated teller machines, personal data assistance and media players.
While the above methods can be used to provide customization according to the personal preferences of the user of a digital camera, it makes no provision for the fact that the subjects of captured images often have personal preferences concerning photographs in which they are depicted. For example, they might prefer images with a particular sharpness setting or color saturation.
In order to obtain an image that the subject prefers, current approaches require the photographer to manually adjust the settings of the digital camera according to the preferences of the subject. However, it can be awkward and time consuming for the subject to wait for the photographer to adjust the camera settings. Alternatively, the photographer can capture the image using a set of default settings, and the photographer or the subject can manually edit the image at a later time to adjust the image according to the preferences of the subject.
There remains a need to provide digital images that are preferred by the subject of the photograph, rather than by the photographer.